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GATE for Phonics: Steps

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Teachers present scripted lessons (using teacher modeling, repeated practice, and progress monitoring) as students look at pictures, letters, key words, and stories on the flip chart.

	Step 1: Listen for Vowel Sounds in Words Students listen for specified vowel sounds in words. This promotes phonemic awareness, in particular, the ability to recognize the vowel sound in each word.
	Step 2: Blend Vowel Sounds Students blend those vowel sounds into words. This improves phonemic awareness, in particular, the ability to recognize words made by sounds blended together.
	Step 3: Practice Letter Sounds Students practice letter sounds with and then without teacher support. This increases knowledge of the names and sounds of the featured letters.
	Step 4: Sound Out Key Words Students sound out key words with and then without teacher support. This teaches decoding of short, phonetically regular words containing the featured sounds.
	Step 5: Make a Prediction Students predict what the story will say about a topic using the title, picture, and key words. This is a pre-reading activity that prepares the students to read the story.
	Step 6: Cold Timing Students read the story independently while the teacher times them for one minute. This determines how well the students can read the story on their own before reading along or practicing.
	Step 7: Graph the Cold Timing Score Students fill in their individual graphs with a blue bar for the cold timing score. This provides a visual record of each student's cold timing score and a baseline for their progress.
	Step 8: Read Along Students read along with the teacher using the teacher's guide. This models the correct reading of the story so the students can learn new words, confirm words that tend to confuse them, and master other words. It also teaches appropriate phrasing and expression.
	Step 9: Practice and Pass the Story The teacher times the students as they practice reading the story independently several times, until they can read it at a predetermined goal rate. By practicing, students learn to read the story fluently and master some of the words within the story. It also provides the teacher with the opportunity to listen to each student read. After practicing, the students then attempt to pass the story. Students must read a minimum of 70 words correctly in one minute in order to pass.
	Step 10: Graph the Final Timing Score Students fill in their individual graphs with a red bar for their final timing score. The red bar above the blue bar for their cold timing score shows students their improvement.
	Step 11: Answer Questions Students answer the questions about the story. This encourages students to remember what they read, shows them that they are reading for information and not speed, gives them a chance to write words with the featured sounds, and assesses their comprehension of the story.
	Step 12: Write a Retell Students write sentences retelling information from the story, either as a group or individually. This encourages comprehension because students must write what they remember about the story. This step is optional if time is limited.
	Step 13: Read Word Lists Students read the word lists down and across, with and then without teacher support. This gives students an opportunity to see the patterns in words, teaches students common word families, and teaches the decoding of words with the featured sounds.
	Step 14: Practice and Pass the Word Lists Students practice and pass the word lists.
	Step 15: Spell Words The students spell words from the featured families. This provides students with practice writing short words with the featured sounds, develops their phonemic awareness, and improves their spelling skills.